The present invention relates to electronic gaming apparatus. The invention is particularly applicable for electronic gaming apparatus simulating a slot machine and is therefore described below with respect to electronic slot machines, although it will be appreciated that the invention could be advantageously used in other electronic games as well.
The conventional slot machine game includes a plurality of reels arranged in a line and provided with various symbols on their outer peripheries. A start lever is manually pulled down and then released, which starts the reels to rotate. The reels stop successively one after the other in random positions, to display different symbols on their outer peripheries. Certain combinations of these symbols when arranged in a line represent winning combinations, earning the player predetermined amounts of money according to the winning combination produced in the line of reels.
Various types of electronic machines have been developed and are now in use simulating a normal mechanical slot machine game. Examples of such electronic slot machines are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,573,681, 4,684,600, 4,624,459 and 4,335,809. These patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
Games are used by various establishments seeking to attract patrons by offering something of value to those prospective patrons who enter the establishment or who purchase particular products. Such offers may be in a nature of a promised free gift to each patron, to be awarded when the patron enters the establishment. In these games, every person entering the establishment and meeting certain predetermined qualifications may receive the same gift. Likewise, incentive schemes to induce purchase of particular products or services ordinarily award the same gift to each purchaser.
Other, similar schemes utilize an element of random chance. For example, in a so-called "match and win" promotion, tokens bearing different indicia, such as different pictures or combinations of alphanumeric characters may be distributed to prospective patrons. Different prizes are associated with some or all of the different indicia, and the prize associated with each indicia is posted or otherwise made known within the establishment. Thus, the prospective patron must enter the establishment to determine what, if any, prize he has won.
Often the various indicia include one or more very rare indicia applied to only a few of the tokens and associated with prizes of significant value and other, common indicia applied to the remaining tokens associated with prizes of minimal value, or with no prize at all. As only a few patrons will win prizes of significant value, the total value of prizes distributed in the scheme will not pose a prohibitive cost to the sponsor of the scheme. Nonetheless, the possibility, albeit remote, of winning a prize of significant value may provide incentive to prospective patrons.
Although games of this nature can be a useful marketing tool, they suffer from significant drawbacks. Manufacture and distribution of the tokens is costly. Security measures must be employed to prevent persons involved in distribution of the tokens from culling out those tokens bearing the rare indicia associated with valuable prizes and diverting those tokens to their own use. Such security measures add to the cost of conducting the game. Moreover, these games provide minimal entertainment to the patron. After the game has determined what prize he has won, the game is over insofar as he is concerned. The game thus has no value whatever in inducing the customer to remain in the establishment.
Other promotional schemes have been conducted using identical tokens, such as identical coupons printed in newspaper advertisements and coupons incorporated as part of packages of goods. Ordinarily, all of the tokens or coupons used in such a scheme are identical and entitle the person holding the coupon to the same value. For example, coupons can be printed in a newspaper offering a discount on a specific item of merchandise in a store. Also, packaged goods often carry coupons which either entitle the customer to a discount on subsequent purchase of the goods or which can be redeemed for unrelated merchandise. Many of these promotions involve redemption by mail. In such promotions, the coupon or token may be imprinted with a machine readable code such as a bar code. Where packaged goods are involved, the bar code may be the universal product code or "UPC" used to identify the goods for inventory and sale purposes. Promotions of this nature generally do not provide any element of randomness. Thus, each consumer may acquire the same item of relatively small value by presenting or redeeming the coupon or token. There is no chance for the consumer to acquire a highly valuable prize.
In another system discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,364 (incorporated herein by reference), the security problems of the known art is addressed by randomly assigning prizes to patrons who present tokens bearing a common winning code. This is done when a player presents the token for redemption and the token is found to bear a common winning code. Several classes of tokens may be used with the tokens of each class bearing the same common winning code. However, the common codes differ among the different classes. There may be several winning codes matching the different common codes. The tokens may be distributed with goods sold at retail, as by distributing packages of goods bearing the tokens through normal retail sale distribution channels. Most desirably, the token may be a part of the goods package bearing a machine readable product identification code.
Moreover, the game may be conveniently associated with purchase of particular products. Where a universal product code symbol or other portion of a package for particular goods constitutes the token, the prospective patron of the establishment must purchase the goods in order to play the game. When the redemption location is at an establishment other than the location where the goods are sold, the patron must visit the other establishment as well. This provides a "tie-in" in that the game promotes both the goods and the other establishment.
However, there may be little incentive for a player to enter the subject retail establishment in the first place. Nor is there any particular inducement for a potential player to pick up a coupon or a token at some other location. If a token is not presented to a potential player as part of a goods package (such as in the case when the potential player has no particular reason to purchase the subject goods), there is little inducement to bring a potential player into the retail outlet, or for him to bother picking up a coupon at some other location.